Faculty String Quartet Recital with John Kurokawa, clarinet

Join the WSU Faculty String Quartet with guest John Kurokawa for a wonderful evening of chamber music featuring Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 11 and Brahms' Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, April 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 in Schuster Hall.

The WSU faculty string Quartet was founded in 1990 to showcase the talents of the string faculty and to travel throughout Ohio providing programs of high quality string chamber music. The quartet performs a vast repertoire ranging from the classical masters to more modern masterpieces. The members of the quartet are all active solo, chamber music and orchestra performers, as well as teaching applied area and serving as the principal string section in the Wright State Orchestra Program. The quartet has been invited to perform at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Conference in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013.

John Kurokawa is the Instructor of Clarinet at Wright State University. In addition to teaching applied clarinet, he teaches courses in woodwind chamber music, woodwind pedagogy, and music education. He performs in the resident faculty wind quintet, the Wright Winds, and the WSU Chamber Orchestra. His performances have been praised for their “...warmth, communication, and easy virtuosity” (Cincinnati Enquirer) and “truly flawless technique and intonation...a tone as smooth as silk and velvet.” (Kettering-Oakwood Times).

Kurokawa currently performs as Principal Clarinetist of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. He has been a featured soloist with both ensembles, performing the works of Mozart, John Williams, Gerald Finzi, and John Adams. Other positions include Principal Clarinetist of the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, and the Frank Simon Band, Cincinnati’s Premiere Professional Concert Band. He also performs with the Prestige Clarinet Quartet, which has been a featured ensemble at the Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium and International Clarinet Association Clarinetfest. Kurokawa has performed on the International Double Reed Society Conference, published articles in the Triad, presented at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference, and in 2013, was one of twenty faculty members recognized by Wright State University for Excellence in Teaching General Education. He continues to present masterclasses and clinics for colleges, high schools, and youth orchestras across the midwest.

Kurokawa holds the B.M. in woodwind performance (specializing in clarinet, flute, and saxophone) from Bowling Green State University and the M.M. in clarinet performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His teachers include Angelo Fortini, Edward Marks, and Ronald deKant.

Mr. Kurokawa performs exclusively on the Yamaha CSG Clarinet and is a Yamaha Performing Artist.